ERAC Opinion on the Relationship Between the European Research Area and Horizon 2020

NOTE

Delegations will find attached theERAC Opinionon the Relationship between the European Research Area and Horizon 2020.

ERAC 1207/12FS/nj1

EN

DG G III

ANNEX

ERAC Opinion on the Relationship between the European Research Area and Horizon 2020

Prepared by an enlarged ERAC Steering Board (SB+)

1.Introduction

In December 2011, the European Research Area Committee (ERAC) adopted its advice[1] to the Commission for the development of the ERA Framework proposal, in which it urged that there should be synergies and complementarity between Horizon 2020 and the wider European Research Area (ERA)[2]. Against the background of that advice and other ERAC opinions[3], ERAC agreed, in February 2012, “to undertake a follow-up discussion on how the Commission and Member States can best work in partnership in relation to both the governance proposed for Horizon 2020 as well as the wider ERA” [4]. It was further agreed that the work would be undertaken by the ERAC Steering Board in an ad hoc enlarged format (hereafter ERAC SB+)[5].

The ERAC SB+ met three times, undertook individual and collective work and considered two background documents[6] – an “Ideas Paper”[7] and a “Mapping Paper”[8]. This ERAC Opinion, the final outcome of that work, reflects on current and future European governance and oversight structures for research and innovation and presents proposals to foster the ERA such that:

• Horizon 2020 can best support the continued development of the European Research Area post-2013and thereby the implementation of the Innovation Union;

and

• The ERA can grow to become the best environment for European research and innovation, including most specifically the main EU-level funding action in 2014-2020, Horizon 2020.

2.Horizon 2020 supporting the European Research Area

The primary aim of Horizon 2020 is the promotion of growth through research and innovation under the Europe 2020 Strategy. Building on the successes of previous Framework Programmes, Horizon 2020 will be dedicated to the "achievement and functioning" of the European Research Area (ERA). This can be inferred notably from the Horizon 2020 Regulation[9] and the accompanying Communication of the Commission, which contains a section on "completing the ERA and of the Innovation Union", which are “urgently needed to avoid costly overlaps and unnecessary duplication of activities“[10].

The Communication also states that completion of the European Research Area “entails building a genuine single market for knowledge, research and innovation, enabling researchers, research institutions and businesses to circulate, compete and co-operate across borders. Remaining gaps will be addressed through the ERA framework, to be presented by the Commission in 2012." In particular, Horizon 2020 will support a number of ERA priorities (e.g. researcher mobility and careers, research infrastructures, knowledge transfer and international co-operation), encouraging the Union, including its industry[11], to become more competitive and will thereby foster stronger partnerships between Member States (MS), Associated Countries (AC) and the private sector to invest more efficiently. It will also take account of gender, ethical issues and Open Access to research results.

Horizon 2020 is the main European funding instrument supporting the development of the ERAand thereby the Innovation Union. It seeks to engage a wider range of participants than in any previous Framework Programme and to provide a more comprehensive system of supports and types of mechanisms than before. At the same time, it forms part of a wider research and innovation system relating also to sectoral policies such as those for enterprise, agriculture, marine, health, trade and many other sectors.

3.The ERA: the environment for European research and innovation and for Horizon 2020

The ERA is the environment for all European research and innovation and, therefore, for Horizon 2020. In order to see more clearly how the ERA will support Horizon 2020 and how Horizon 2020 will reinforce the goals foreseen in achieving the ERA, a subjective mapping exercise between the two was carried out, mapping the three pillars of Horizon 2020[12] and their likely contribution to

achieving progress with respect to the five axes of the ERA[13]. A summary of that mapping is provided in Annex I. In the context of the development of the ERAC Work Programme, consideration should be given to conducting a similar exercise mapping the Innovation Union with Horizon 2020.
While it is clear from the mapping that Horizon 2020 can contribute greatly to the ERA, it is neither the only nor the major mechanism to ensure its success. National funding of research and innovation is the second and larger source of financial support which can enable the successful functioning of a European research and innovation area. Where appropriate, national funds can and are working together and in parallel with European funding (Horizon 2020 and other) to foster the growth of the ERA. In order to build the ERA in a sustainable manner for European socio-economic benefit, it remains essential that synergies be found and complementarities leveraged across the EU, particularly in these times of economic difficulty. This will require an ongoing strong buy-in and sound partnership approach from Member States, Associated Countries and the Commission and its constituent parts.

To build a robust European environment for research and innovation, good governance must lie at the heart of the successful implementation of Horizon 2020, positioned as it is in the ERA and the Innovation Union. Simple and transparent governance will enable Member States, Associated Countries and the Commission to reach their research and innovation goals in the context of the large number of complementary policy objectives, the variety of stakeholders, the need to balance internal EU aims with increased externalisation, and adherence to the principle of variable geometry. Strategic advice focused on structure and governance and on avoiding any overlaps or duplication of effort can smooth the progress of the ERA, and with it Horizon 2020. An adaptable system of governance is clearly needed, one which can change as both the ERA and the broader global research and innovation environment change over time.

ERAC has a strategic role[14] in providing timely advice to the Commission and Member States forthe development of the ERA and brings added value through its knowledge and experience of national research and innovation policy arenas. It has in the past, following the request of the Council[15], drawn on the expertise of ERA groups[16] in fulfilling its role of providing such strategic policy advice. ERAC, working with ERA groups, can contribute to good governance by providing its advice on the identification and design of strategic priorities, of monitoring the progress of the ERA, of promoting the co-ordination of national research and innovation policies and of working towards greater coherence with other relevant policy areas addressing research and/or innovation.

4.Observations and Recommendations

Through its consideration of the mapping between the ERA and Horizon 2020 and discussions at the ERAC SB+ and ERAC plenary meetings, ERAC has identified two areas of key importance in the interplay between Horizon 2020 and the ERA: peer-to-peer learning for the ERA and strategic development of the ERA.

Observations

a.Peer-to-Peer Learning for the ERA

There is a clear need for ongoing exchange of good practice and peer-to-peer learning with respect to participation in EU research and innovation governance structures, so that countries can better organise themselves, learn from one another and adapt to new circumstances in research and innovation in Europe and nationally, notwithstanding the need for diversity of national approaches.

ERAC has a formal role in stimulating mutual learning opportunities[17]. These will be developed in the context of discussions on the ERAC Work Programme and might consider the following questions:

• How can the most efficient and effective links be established in MS/AC between the governance structures of the ERA and Horizon 2020 and the wider national policy environment for both research and innovation (including, for example, finance, education and labour)?

• How will MS/AC each organise their national participation in the EU research and innovation governance structure under Horizon 2020 and the ERA, in the context of the Innovation Union, and ensure the necessary national linkages?

• Given the diversity of national systems and approaches, how can research and innovation, and their European dimension, be more fully integrated into national policies and co-ordinated at national level with other policy areas (notably, perhaps, into the National Reform Programmes as they relate to the European Semester)?

• How can complementarity at both national and European levels between groups be progressed for the benefit of research and innovation (e.g. between ERAC and EPG[18])?

b.Strategic development of the ERA

Recalling the remit of ERAC in monitoring the progress of the ERA, and the potential for that monitoring to contribute both to informing timely strategic policy advice by ERAC and to the reporting by the Commission of progress in achieving and sustaining the ERA, the second area of importance identified by the SB+ is:

The provision of well-co-ordinated, evidence-based and timely policy advice, in relation to the ongoing strategic development of the ERA, and thereby the Innovation Union, with the simultaneous implementation of Horizon 2020, is essential given the continually changing environment for research and innovation in Europe.

This highlights the need to (re-)define the ERA structure (comprised of ERAC, the ERA groups and other committees), where relevant, well-coordinated withother mechanisms such as the European Innovation Partnerships, maintaining clarity on their strategic roles in the future, and to ensure that the different elements of strategic governance complement one another, work in one efficient and effective system and address both research and innovation policy issues. Different needs may arise over time, dominated in the period from now until the end of 2013 by the implementation of the forthcoming Commission Communication on the ERA, once agreed, and by decisions on Horizon 2020 and, in the post-2013 period, by the long-term development agenda for the ERA and the Innovation Union supported by the implementation of Horizon 2020.

This has implications not only at European level. It will be important for MS and AC, within their own diverse systems, to organise their participations in the EU research and innovation governance structure for the ERA and Horizon 2020. There are also implications for national and European co-ordination in engaging all of the relevant stakeholders appropriately in this system and its

environment, in the context of a sound partnership approach.

A “business as usual” scenario for ERAC and the ERA groups will not adequately take into account the changing nature of European research and innovation, including most critically the new environment which is being put in place by the end of 2013 and will develop thereafter, the European Research Area. Nor will it meet the new requirements resulting from the proposed changes in the operation of the Framework Programme from FP7 to Horizon 2020, such as the new strategic role of the Programme Committee.

The ERA structure therefore needs to better develop and reinforce an existing task, namely that of actively contributing to the monitoring of the progress of the ERA, and thereby the Innovation Union, including its full range of initiatives and instruments, for the purpose of regularly providing strategic policy advice on ERA-related issues, including advice relevant to Horizon 2020 [19].

The alternative scenario to “business as usual” would see the ERA structure altered as necessary to enable it to better accomplish this task, perhaps by also adopting improved working processes,thereby enhancing its capacity to provide timely strategic advice. New priorities could relate to the indicators and data needed, appropriate forms of stakeholder involvement, etc. New working methods could include combined meetings between ERAC and relevant Horizon 2020 bodies and/or between ERA groups (with, notably, the progress in achieving and further developing the ERA being one of their shared missions).

Recommendations

This work by ERAC has examined several inter-related questions: How can Horizon 2020 best help to build the ERA, and the ERA be the best environment for Horizon 2020? How can Horizon 2020 and MS/AC activity best become mutually reinforcing? How can ERAC work in the most
complementary way with the ERA-related groups and others? How can the ERA-groups together[20] address common topics? How can a partnership approach, with MS/AC, the Commission and other stakeholders, be achieved and optimised? How can ERAC stimulate an ongoing exchange of good practice and peer-to-peer learning (a new activity building on the Mutual Learning exercises)? And, last but not least, how can ERAC best monitor the establishment of the ERA to end 2013 and the progress of the ERA thereafter? Such an exercise should also be considered, in the context of the development of the ERAC Work Programme,for the implementation of the most ERA-relevant Innovation Union commitments.

In answering these questions, the focus for ERAC is on its key role of providing timely strategic policy advice to the Commission, Council and Member States. Therefore, in the context of the rolling development of the Work Programme of ERAC for the next few years, ERAC recommends that:

1.ERAC should continue to work to stimulate ongoing exchange of good practice and peer-to-peer learning with respect to participation in EU research and innovation governance structures and processes, so that countries can better organise themselves, learn from one another and adapt to new circumstances in research and innovation in Europe and nationally – and work closely with the Commission to facilitate this.

2.ERAC, in its monitoring role, should provide advice for the measurement of progress of the achievement of the ERAand thereby the Innovation Union and, thus, be involved in regular reporting on that progress[21]. In this as in other areas, it should work withERA groups[22]. The reports and opinions of ERAC should contain recommendations to the Council, Commission and MS. They should be carefully timed and should enable the Commission and the MS/AC to take them into account(e.g. in Competiveness Council meetings, European Semester and in the implementation of the ERA, the Innovation Union and Horizon 2020).

3.In light of the above recommendations, any necessary changes in the processes and/or structures of the ERA-related groups should be made in a timely manner to facilitate their role in providing strategic policy advice and engaging in related monitoring. Changes should be consistent with and complementary to the revised structures for Horizon 2020, and a holistic perspective pursued. Changes in the ERA governance structure should reflect changes in the ERA as it develops and should be informed, but not delayed, by the upcoming review of ERAC.

ERAC 1207/12FS/nj1

ANNEXDG G IIIEN

ANNEX I

Mapping Horizon 2020 and the European Research Area[23]

This is a working document prepared as background to the ERAC discussion document under the responsibility of the Chair of the ERAC Steering Board.

At the March meeting of the SB+, it was proposed that a mapping between the ERA and Horizon 2020 be carried out to assist the SB+ in further developing its ideas on the interplay between the policies and governance of Horizon 2020 and the wider ERA, work being undertaken in the context of related policies such as education, enterprise and fiscal policies.

While the original mapping carried out for the SB+ was based on the proposals for Horizon 2020 as laid out by the Commission in its documents of 30 November 2011, this background document is an update of that, taking into account the current status (31 May 2012) of the negotiations on Horizon 2020 being progressed by the Research Working Group. Please note that this is a subjective mapping.

ERA and Horizon 2020: Mapping

The following considers the three pillars of Horizon 2020 (Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership and Societal Challenges) and their likely contribution to achieving progress with respect to the five axes of the ERA (researcher careers and mobility; knowledge transfer; the international dimension; joint programming; and research infrastructures). The interaction between the pillars and the axes is described as HIGH, MEDIUM OR LOW, without any reflection on the likely value or quality of the action within the pillar itself, just how it relates to the axes.

In addition to the mapping on to the pillars, it should be noted that, in the current version of the Horizon 2020 programme[24], “broad lines of the specific objectives and actions" are identified, most specifically in Annex 1. These include a listing of a number of cross-cutting issues to be addressed across Horizon 2020 which should inform the implementation of all elements in the programme. This "horizontal box" contains a number of items which have a stronglinkage to individual ERA Axes (e.g. international co-operation links to the international dimension axis; gender links to researchercareers and mobility; and bridging from discovery to market application and SMEs link to the knowledge circulation axis). In addition, the section on cross-cutting support measures refers explicitly to action in support of the ERA, including all five axes. These explicit references strengthen the linkage between Horizon 2020 and the ERA and in principle aim to ensure that ERA concerns are mainstreamed in the implementation of Horizon 2020, rather than that they are marginalised by the approach.